Burglar-catching device.



A. ZUBRYD.

BURGLAR CATCHING DEVICE. APPucATloN H150 JUNE lo'. 1915.

1,217,381. Ptend Feb.- 27, 1917. 4 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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BURGLAR CATCHING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED luNE la. |915.

Patented Feb. 27',y 1917-.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ANTONI ZUBBYD, OF CASTLE SHANNON, PENNSYLVANIA.

- BURGLAR-CATCI-IING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 27, 1917.

Application filed June 10, 1915. Serial No. 33,410.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ANTONI' 'ZUBRYD, a subject of the Emperor' of Austi'iak-I'Iungary, residing at Castle Shannon, in the county of Allegheny and Sta-te of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and us'efliil Improvements in Burglar-Catching `Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesto certain new and useful improvements in burglar 'catching devices.

The primary object of this invention is to provide automatically operated mechanism positioned adjacent a door whereby any unauthorized person tampering with the se,- curing means of the door is caughty and imprisoned until liberated by others.

A., further object of the device is to provide an automatic catching device for any person endeavoring to open an outside door thereof when the device is in itsl set position, an automatically operable tiltable door approach being arranged in connection with a receiving cage and the device having an indicating signal in connection therewith.

A still further object of the invention is to pro-vide an automatic actuating catching trap for burglars arranged adjacent an entrance door and provided with a signal for indicating the presence or absence of anoccupant of the trap.

With these general objects in view and others that will appear as the' nature of the invention is better understood,.the same consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed outl in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a partof this application and in which like designating characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure 1 is an inside front view of a portion of a door provided with the present device, parts of the said device being broken away. l

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view through the door and with'the device shown in side elevation and partlyy broken away.

Fig. 3 is atop plan view of they device with the door actuating means detached, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an upper portion ofthe device in its set position.

F ig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, enlarged, of the lock and pusher, showing the latter abutting the T-head of the lock hub.

Referring-more in detail to the drawings, the wall l0 of a housing is herein illustrated provided with a door 1l having a, lock 12 interior-ly thereof of substantially the usual form and provided with turn knobs 13 for operating the `latch thereof not shown. A pit or cellar 14 is arranged beneath the door and extends outwardly thereof, and is provided with a casing 15 rectangular in cross section, vertically mounted therein and constituting a receiving cage. rEhe said casing 15 is provided with a trap door 1G at the top thereof the same being hinged as at 17 to the forward edge of the casing and being provided with a return spring 18 normally retaining the door in its closed horizontal position, the same being immediately infront of the door 11.

Retaining bolts 19 are slidably positioned through oppositely arranged lslots 20 in the sides of the casing 15 and are adapted to project inwardly of the said casing'for normally supporting the door 16 and allowing persons to' freely walk thereover when passing inwardly and outwardly of the doo-rway. -Angular operating lever 21 are pivoted as at 22 to the outer ends of the bolts 19 and are pivotally mounted in brackets 23 carried'by the opposite sides of the casing 15.

A releasing bar 24 is pivote'd in bearings 25 upon the forward' side of the casing and is provided with angularly` projecting curved arms 26 atv its opposite ends. The levers 21 are provided at their outer ends 27 with chains 28 having weights 29r at4 their free ends and being provided with intermediately arranged hooks 30 adapted for engaging the arms 26 of the bar 24. rIhe hooks'30 engage the' same when'the' said arms are positioned substantially horizontal'in set position and at whichtimes anvintermediate finger 31 of the bar 24 is seated upon the top of'a bracket 32 carried by the adjacent side of the casing 15. i

ein angularvr trip lever 3l) is pivoted asf at 34 to the top of the bracket 32. in such a manner that its shorter end v35 has apathv of movement in the same pla-ne as the linger 31.

A' plate' 36 is slidably arranged upon" the door wall 10 adjacent the door lock 12 andis so positioned that any turning of the knob 13 will ca'use the" latch actuator to operate CJD CTI

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a pusher 55 to slide the said plate 36 outwardly and away from the lock 12. Tie pusher 55 which is carried on the plate 3G projects into the easing of the lock as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5. ln F ig. 5, a common i'orm oi lock is shown, and the hub 56 thereoi has the usual cross-arm or Therad 37 against which the tree extremity ot' the pusher 55 abuts. rlhe turning of the hub 56 in either direction rocks the head 37 and forces the pusher 55 outwardly through the casing or the lock 12,-sliding the plate 3G in a. direction to trip the mechanism.

lt will thus be seen that in the present embodiment of the invention the usual form of lock may be emjjiloyed to actuate the weightrelcasing means. 'llhe lever 37 is pivoted at 38 in the side walls of an adjacent Hoor opening through which the same extends and has its lower end pivotally connected with a link 39, that is pivotally attached at 40 to the trip lever end 35. The lever 3? has an upper end portion 41 provided Vwith a slot 42 for engaging a pin 43 upon the plate 36, the said portion 41 being adj ustably secured to the lever 37 by means of a winged nut 44 whereby the lever may be readily disengaged fromV the plate 36 when desired to render the device inoperative.

TWith the elements positioned as best illus` trated in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, any manipulation of the knob 13 vill result in an outward movement of the plate 35 caused by the latch actuator engaging the slide bar 55, which will pivotally move the lever 37, thereby shitting the trip lever 33 and bringing the shorter arm 35 thereof against the bar linger 31, thus forcing the said linger oli ot the bracket 32 to allow the weights 29 to revolve the bar 24. Such a turning of the said bar 24, lowers the hooks 26, so that the weights 29 are released and are allowed to fall, which movement aperates the lock levers 21 and automatically rcleases the bolts 19 from beneath the trap door 1G. lt will thus be seen that a turning of the door knob 13 results in automatically unlocking the trap door 16 upon which the operator is positioned and whereby the said person is precipitated interiorly of the casing 15 which constitutes a receiving cage and makes the burglar a prisoner.

A false bottom 45 is arranged within the casing 15 being suspended from the opposite sides thereof' by means ot retractile springs 4G for resiliently mounting the bottom 45 above the Hoor 47 ot the casing cage. A guiding post 48 is centrally carried by the false bottom 45 and slidably moves through a central perforation 49 of the casing iloor during the operative movements or the device. A signal block `50 is positioned adj acent the door 11 designed to be protected by the device, the said block being mounted upon the false bottom 45 of the cage by means of a rod 51. The precipitating of a person into the cage 15 through the trap door 16 thereof allows the person to tall upon the resiliently mounted false bottom 4 5 therein from which he may be liberated by any authorized person through a side door 52 arranged in the said cage. A leaf spring 53 is carried by the cage 15 and is connected to the trip lever 33 by means oi. a chain 54 whereby the said trip lever is aus tomatically returned to its normal position after the actuation thereof.

lt will be understood that the operating means for the tripping mechanism as well as the signal 50 are arranged interiorly ol' the room as best illust ated in Fig. ot the drawings and that either the outside or the inside knob 13 will operate the mechanism` although of course only the outside knob would be advantageous tor the present object of catching a person endeavoring to enter the house.

The device is thus efficient and servir in preventing any unauthorized attempts to open the door 11 and is operable when the connecting portion 41 of the lever 3i' is tached to the shittable blade 36 and when the weighted hooks 30 are mounted upon the horizontally arranged arms 26 with the bolts 19 supporting the trap door 16. lt will be seen however that at desired intervals such as during the day time, the upper lever portion 41 may be disengaged from the plate 46 thus rendering the device inoperable although otherwise arranged in its set position, and it will be also seen that the door 16 is automatically returned to its horizontal position by the afore-mentionsJA spring 18 and that after being tripped, the elements may be readily reset by a person familiar with the structure.

The weights 29 are relatively light, and are su'gncient only to retract the latches 19 when the weights are released. As the weights fall through a considerable distance, the momentum thereo;F increases the oliective pull of the weights and is sullicient to retract the latches. Thus, but relatively slight pressure is required for sliding the rod 24 which supports the weights normally, to disengage the projection 31 from the ledge 32.

While the form of the invention herein shown and described is what is believed to be the preferred embodiment thereof, nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention 'as claimed.

What l claim as new is 1. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a house door, anormally horizontally positioned trap door adjacent the same, shiftable supporting bolts for the trap door, a turn knob for the house it is door, and automatic trip releasing means for the said bolts operatively associated with the knob.

2. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a house door, a turn knob for the door, a casing cage positioned forwardly beneath the door, a swinging lid for said cage normally positioned horizontally forwardly of said door, slidable retaining bolts carried by the cage and normally positioned beneath said lid, retracting levers for the bolts, a bar journaled to said cage and having curved projecting ends, chains operatively attached to Asaid levers, weights secured to the free ends of the chains, hooks attached to the intermediate portions of said chains, and normally arranged upon the said bar ends when the device is in its normal set position, and tripping means for the bar operatively associated with said knob.

8. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a house door, a turn knob for the door, a casing cage positioned forwardly beneath said door, a .swinging lid for the cage normally positioned horizontally forwardly of the door, slidable retaining bolts carried by the cage and normally positioned beneath the lid, retracting levers for said bolts, a bar journaled on said cage and having curved projecting ends, chains operatively attached to said levers, weights secured to the free ends of the chains, hooks attached to the intermediate portions of the chains and normally arranged upon the bar ends when the device is in its normal set position, a bracket upon said cage, the said bar being longitudinally shiftable and having a finger portion normally flatly positioned upon the top of said bracket, an angular trip pivoted to the upper side of said bracket and having a path of movement in the same plane as said linger portion, resilient return means for the trip lever, and

disengageable operative connections'between the said trip lever andactuating means.

4. A device of the class described comprising in combination with a house door, a turn knob for the door, a casing cage positioned forwardly beneath said door, a swinging lid for the cage normally positioned horizontally forwardly of the door, slidable retaining bolts carried by the cage and normally positioned beneath said lid, retracting levers for said bolts, a bar journaled on said cage and having curved projecting ends, chains operatively attached to the levers, weights secured to the free ends of the chains, hooks attached to the intermediate portions of the chains and normally arranged upon the bar ends when the device is in its normal set position, a bracket upon said cage, said bar being longitudinally shiftable and having a finger portion normally flatly positioned upon the top of the bracket, an angular trip pivoted to the upper side of said bracket and having a path of movement in the same plane as the same finger portion, a slide plate operatively associated with said knob, a pivo-ted operating lever having a shiftable upper vend portion detachably and pivotally connected to the said plate, and pivotal link connections between the lower end of said operating lever and said trip lever. l

5. A device of the class described comprising in combination with an outside door having operating turn knobs, a casing cage positioned beneath and outwardly of said door, a hinged lid for the said cage, a resiliently suspended false bottom within the cage, a signal flag mounted upon the false bottom and positioned adjacent said door, shiftable supporting bolts for said lid, and tripping releasing operating means for said bolts operatively associated with said knobs.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature ANTONI ZUBRYD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

